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Bakersfield’s Fox Theater

Bakersfield’s Fox Theater is a 1500-seat theater located in Bakersfield, California, and was designed by the famous Los Angeles architect S. Charles Lee in 1930. During the 1930s, Fox Theater's big silver screen featured the first "talkie" motion pictures. Celebrated artists such as Bakersfield native and Metropolitan Opera baritone Lawrence Tibbett (1933), world famous soprano Kirsten Flagstad (1939), the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (1939), and the classic pianist Arthur Rubinstein (1940) have performed on its stage. The theater was not destroyed in the 1952 earthquake due to the peculiar construction, although the structures around it were ravaged. In 1953, Fox West Coast Theaters' Charles P. Skouras replaced the original Mediterranean Village interior with a contemporary Art Deco theme. A lavish concession area, a remodel of the marquee, box office, and main entrance were added to the theater. The original screen was changed, and a super wide Cinemascope 20-foot by 45-foot format replaced the original screen. The theater was closed in 1977, but in June 1994, the non-profit Fox Theater Foundation renovated the theater. Today, Bakersfield's Fox Theater has returned to its former glory and is a great place for concerts, plays, movies with Dolby surround sound, business meetings, religious programs, school graduations, school plays, dance recitals, receptions, and corporate functions.